Most styles have an official manual that can give you the most complete information. There are many great web sites that can help you with citing.
1.) Pick a citation style (i.e. APA, MLA). Ask your professor which style they prefer if you are unsure.
2.) When you quote, paraphrase or summarize someone else's work you need to tell the reader the source you are using. Two common methods to do with are in-text citations/parenthetical citations and footnotes/endnotes.
3.) Give the complete citation at the end of your paper in the bibliography or works cited page.
YOU SHOULD CITE WHEN:
WHEN REFERRING TO A SOURCE, YOU HAVE THREE OPTIONS FOR USING IT:
"Which option you should choose depends on how much of a source you are using, how you are using it, and what kind of paper you are writing, since different fields use sources in different ways." Grounds for Argument. When to Quote, Paraphrase, or Summarize a Source. Used under CC BY NC SA
Image: Random quote by Gabriel Jones. Used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
YOU DO NOT NEED TO CITE:
WHAT IS A DIRECT QUOTATION:
"Must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author." Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2023). Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
USE IT:
BE ADVISED:
Most of the time when you cite a source, you want to summarize or paraphrase. Direct quotations should be used sparingly when the situation meets the criteria above. When you do use direct quotations:
HOW TO CITE A DIRECT QUOTATION:
WHAT IS A SUMMARY:
"Involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s).... Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material." Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2023). Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
"Similar to paraphrasing, summarizing involves using your own words and writing style to express another author's ideas. Unlike the paraphrase, which presents important details, the summary presents only the most important ideas of the passage." University of Houston-Victoria Student Success Center Learn to Summarize
USE IT:
HOW TO CITE A SUMMARY:
WHAT IS A PARAPHRASE:
"A paraphrase is a detailed restatement in your own words of a written or sometimes spoken source material. Apart from the changes in organization, wording, and sentence structure, the paraphrase should be nearly identical in meaning to the original passage. It should also be near the same length as the original passage and present the details of the original." University of Houston-Victoria Student Success Center Decide when to Quote, Paraphrase & Summarize.
Paraphrasing is "your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form." Purdue University Online Writing Lab. (2012). Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
USE IT:
HOW TO CITE A PARAPHRASE:
COMMON KNOWLEDGE:
It doesn't necessarily mean that most people would know it offhand. And sometimes it's a judgment call because what seems like common knowledge to one person isn't to another. Here are good rules of thumb:
CAUTION: Opinions and unique terminology/phrasing do not qualify as common knowledge.
Whenever you quote, summarize, paraphrase or refer to the work of another person you need to cite it. Citing is the way to give credit to other's work when you use it in your papers, speeches and projects. Citing other's work is a very important step in the academic writing process and the best way to avoid plagiarism.
Tip: You do not have to cite anything that is considered common knowledge such as dates of events, well known facts, etc.
You need to cite other's words or ideas whenever you use them in your paper (i.e. direct quotes, summaries). This may include: